GLADES COUNTY — Glades County School District is expanding its scratch-cooking menu with a second round of grant funding from No Kid Hungry Florida. After implementing the program last year, the district saw a 25% increase in participation in its breakfast program.

The initiative includes incorporating student feedback and creating fresh recipes that offer variety and draw students to the cafeteria.

“Mark Wilson, the district’s food service supervisor, eats with the kids almost every day, listening to their feedback and improving the menu with options they love,” said Joshua Proffitt, program manager at No Kid Hungry Florida. “By making the menu tasty and nutritious, he and his team have built a community where students feel heard and cared for. Glades County School District is an excellent example of the fresh and thoughtful approach schools can take to ensure students not only show up for breakfast but enjoy it.”

With one in four children experiencing hunger in Glades County, higher than the state’s average, the school meal programs are a lifeline to many families.

“When Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, he said ‘good nutrition is essential to good learning,’ said Mark Wilson, food service supervisor of Glades County School District. “In Glades County, we follow this rule. Cooking as much from scratch as possible, eliminating preservatives and processed food to protect the health and well-being of the Glades County children and to encourage the use of local and domestic nutritious agricultural commodities.”

With additional funding of over $34,000 from No Kid Hungry Florida, Glades County School District plans to develop a fully scratch-cooked breakfast menu, a first of its kind for public schools. The partial scratch-cooked menu is currently implemented across all schools in the district. Future plans for the district include identifying partnerships with local farmers and ranchers that can bring fresh, locally sourced options to the district.